I was thinking of a Savage 116FSS? stainless .223 for a gift to a friend. Anyone own one? I have never owned a Savage. This model is not the "varmint" model but the shorter, lighter one. How about the .223? opinions ? I picked it because he isnt a hand loader yet, and 223 ammo is cheap and everywhere. I picked the savage because it also is cheap , and it has a 1-9" twist, which I would prefer if I owned it.
Fire away boys........

I think that Savage Rifles are not cheap but less expensive than some others. I have a .243 win Savage model 110. It is very accurate. Im thinking of buy another one in Ruger .204 when they become available.

I like the idea of being able to change barrels easily. I guess I'm a born tinker.

I think that it's a real good choice for an inexpensive, light weight, walk around varminter. You have as good a chance of getting an accurate out of the box shooter with the Savage as any other brand right now. Your choice of 223 for a non-reloader's varmint rifle is excellent also.

What a friend!

Good choice, I'd say. All of my Savages (I have 3) have been accurate out of the box. I'm sure that you meant the 16FSS, since the 116FSS is the long action version. Anyway, my cousin has the 16FSS in .243, and on last year's prairie dog shoot, the only real difference between his rifle and my Savages was that he carried his around for the whole day! Sure, maybe if we did a side by side comparison my heavy target/varmint rifles might have been a little slower to heat and walk shots, but my point is that even his sporter was extremely accurate, and he could walk around with it. The fact that it now comes with the AccuTrigger now is just an added bonus...you are pretty much assured of a great trigger, which can be nearly as important as getting a well put together rifle. The .223 is a perfect choice for your reasons, and a good deal of varminting in general. Your friend should be pleased.

Smallfy:

I have my eye on one for a walk around, or mobile varmint rifle as I call it. With the stainless barrel, the one in 9 twist, and the accutrigger it is just the ticket I am looking for.

I wanted that and will put a Boyd's gray laminate stock on it and think I will have a good looking rifle along with a good shooter.

So I think it is a wise astute choice!

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

Thank you all. Do not be so quick to judge me as a "friend" because if I like the rifle, he is just going to get a book . Quite frankly I am sick of him borrowing my rifles, and I dont want to be shot with my own in someone elses hands . The only centerfire 22s I have is a 22-250, and a 22 K-hornet (what else is there?), and have never owned a 223 myself.




Just a side story about the 223...... The 223 was the most popular deer caliber in my small town in alaska. This was dictated by the only grocery store/gunstore/everthing store there was, and the man who ran the thing new nothing about rifles. Growing up I went out hunting with the locals, who were indian, and contrary to popular stories about people who "shot well to get by" these people were lousy shots. Deer went to the butcher with 6 or 8 223s fired into them oftan. Too many twinkies and soda swayed these folks into saying "I missed" meaning... "he is hit bad and I am not going to follow up." Not knocking the 223, I have no doubt it can kill deer from the dammage I have seen.

I just purchased a 16FSS, in .22-250. I really looked
at many different brands, but due to the 1 in 12 twist,
I purchased the Savage. I have a Savage Striker, in
308 Win, that is a very accurate "handgun", or a 14" rifle
with the butt stock cut off. I wish the trigger could
be adjusted for less pull force, and less travel, but I
have it worked down to an acceptable level. Anyway, the
new 16FSS has not even been fired yet, since I am waiting
for a 1 piece Leupold base, for the round receiver. I have
a new 6x24 Bushnell 4200 waiting to drop on it, and I just
received the modified case, for my OAL measuring tool,
for some load development. I have set the Accu-Trigger
as light as it will go, and I am not that impressed.
My Tikka Whitetail Deluxe makes this new fangled
Accu-Trigger look pretty sad. But it is a start. I will
burnish the surfaces with Moly grease, and that will
help a bit. If that still doesn't get it to where
my fingers like it, it may have to go visit the local
trigger doctor, to work a bit of his magic on it.
One other note, on the 16FSS, the Synthetic stock
was fairly rough. It had a lot of injection mold
seam lines, that did not feel right to me. So I took
my random orbital sander, with extra fine grit pads,
and sanded the whole stock very smooth, then tacked it,
and oiled it, and now she looks and feels nice.

I purchased this gun for a walk around coyote gun, and
a rotation gun, in the case of some colony varmint
shooting.

As soon as I get this scope bolted on, and some rounds
loaded, we shall see if this gun lives up to the Savage
reputation for accuracy out of the box.

Squeeze